


The Mad Airgirl

by Branches_Cut_The_Sky_Open



Category: Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: F/M, Just some angsty shit for my shitty angsty self
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-07-29 04:08:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7669516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branches_Cut_The_Sky_Open/pseuds/Branches_Cut_The_Sky_Open
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the jitney scene goes a little differently</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alek

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All characters and scenes belong to Scott Westerfeld. No copyright infringement intended. This is just for fun and to feed my own angsty shipper self.

“Anything to say on the subject of Deryn Sharp?”

Alek turned sharply away from the view of New York from above, seeing the dreadfully familiar face of Eddy Malone grinning at him. The man was leaning on the railing of the air jitney.

“Well, Your Majesty?”

“First of all, it’s not ‘Your Majesty.’”

“It isn’t?”

“‘Your Serene Highness’ is proper.”

“Really?” The monstrous notebook had reappeared, and the reporter was scribbling in it. 

“Also, ‘Ferdinand’ isn’t my last name. It’s my father’s middle name.”

“Then what is your last name?”

“I don’t have one. No nobles do. Our titles define us.”

“Good to know, Your Ma- Your Serene Highness. Now. Deryn Sharp.”

Alek considered. He could tell Eddy Malone how Deryn was the best soldier he’d ever met. How she had helped the Ottoman Revolution by giving them their greatest weapon, and how she had been decorated in the line of duty, how she was the greatest friend he’d ever had. Alex glanced behind him, to where Count Volger was deep in conversation with Captain Hobbes. _“It might be wise, your Serene Highness, to avoid another entanglement. When the story comes out, Mr. Tesla will thank you for having minimal involvement.”_ Alek shook his head. _To hell with Mr. Tesla. To hell with Volger. I will do what I can for Deryn._

“Yes, Mr. Malone. I have several things to say about Deryn Sharp.” And Alek began to speak. He told his tales of Deryn in the Alps, Deryn in Istanbul, Deryn in Tunguska, Deryn in Mexico, Deryn on the topside, wide-eyed with exhilaration, Deryn in Tokyo. Deryn, who risked her own skin and honor to serve King George even though she wasn’t allowed to do so. 

He was so absorbed, he didn’t notice the rocket until he could smell the burning. Then he looked down, and yelled. 

“There’s a rocket! We’re under attack!”

By the time the rest of the passengers in the air jitney noticed him, the rocket was only a few meters below. The jitney’s crew tried to turn the craft out of the rocket’s path, but they were almost too slow. The rocket knocked out the railing that Alek was leaning on, and he reeled forward, teetering on the edge before someone grabbed him and hauled him back. He heard Eddy Malone’s voice, “Grab onto something, your Majesty!”

Alek scrambled for a purchase on the smooth wooden floor of the jitney. One of the balloons overhead had burst into flames, and the aircraft was falling, twirling like a maple seed, and Alek felt himself sliding, until he finally grabbed the railing or the jitney. His hands, singed from the rocket, throbbed as he clung to the hot metal balustrade. He could feel his grip weakening, and the craft was falling faster now, the other three balloons leaking hydrogen. Above, Alek heard a bang, and glanced up to see that the rocket had exploded. Flaming pieces of spent explosive rained down onto the jitney, and Alek screamed as one landed on his back. He convulsed, his weakening fingers losing their grip entirely, and Alek fell, twisting in the air as his body dropped to the streets below. 

 

 


	2. Deryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own. Just for fun. Well, not for fun. Just for angst.

Deryn had known the nightmare was coming as soon as she closed her eyes. The rocket attack on the air jitney was too like her Da’s accident. Especially since the letter had arrived by messenger eagle say that all hands had survived, but that Prince Aleksander of Hohenberg had fallen from the jitney.

The nightmare was the same as always; the heat of flames, the crackle of the ropes snapping, and staring, winded, while her Da floated away, burning in midair. 

Strangely, she slept through the night, awakening to the sound of a slightly-less-than-polite knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Captain Hobbes strode into the room, looking furious, follow by the first officer. The captain tossed a newspaper down on the bed. “What is the meaning of this?”

Deryn stared down at the paper, and saw the picture from her military files, underneath which a headline screamed 

 

**AIRGIRL UNCOVERED IN RAF**

by Eddy Malone

 

A shocking thing has been discovered 

in Britain’s Royal Air Force.Whilst on 

a sojourn aboard His Majesty’s Airship 

_Leviathan_ , this reporter has encountered

some shocking facts about a certain 

Midshipman Dylan Sharp. Or rather, 

Misdhipwoman Deryn Sharp. It seems

this fifteen-year-old girl has fooled her

officers, crew, and the British Admiralty 

for over a year. Hiding her true gender

and going under the guise of Dylan Sharp, 

cousin to Coxswain Jaspert Sharp, the 

young woman was decorated in the line of duty. 

 

In an interview with Miss Sharp’s close friend

Prince Aleksander of Hohenberg, I was told 

that his Serene Highness believes Miss Sharp 

to be an excellent soldier. He told me about the 

errant midshipwoman’s many adventures and 

the ways that she has helped him in his 

endeavors, and even saved him on multiple

occasions. He claims to be very proud of his 

friend, and not at all ashamed to put his name

beside hers. How this will affect his sponsorship

of Mr. Tesla remains to be seen. _continued pg. 7_

 

“Is this true?” Captain Hobbes was red. Deryn had never seen him so angry.

“Aye, Sir.” Deryn looked down, ashamed in spite of herself. 

“You are aware that this is _illegal_ , aren’t you, Miss Sharp?”

“Aye Sir. I’m not daft!”

“It would appear that you are! What on earth possessed you to pull such a mad stunt?”

“I wanted to fly. And to serve. And my aunties and mum wanted to stuff me back into skirts after my Da’s accident.”

“Oh, so Artemis Sharp was your father?”

“Aye Sir. Everybody already knew about Jaspert’s little sister Deryn, you see.”

“So Jaspert was in on this?”

“It’s not his fault, Sir! I wouldn’t leave him alone until I agreed to help me. Please don’t court-martial him!”

“I wasn’t planning on it, Miss Sharp. You, on the other hand…” 

Deryn clenched her fists on her blankets. So. She wouldn’t simply be kicked off the ship. She was to be taken back to London in chains. 

She lifted her chin, eyes startlingly dry. “Very well, Sir.” 


	3. Alek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own. Hope you enjoy.

When Alek awoke, it was to a busy figure taking his pulse. He saw white. Everything was white. The walls, the beds, the people, all in white. He hurt. He couldn’t move his left leg. 

“Excuse me, Miss?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Where am I?”

“You’re in a hospital in New York City. Can you answer a few questions for me?”

“Certainly.”

“What is your name?”  


“Aleksander of Hohenberg.”

“Where are you from?”

“Austria-Hungary.”

“Who is the current emperor of Austria-Hungary?”

“Franz Joseph.”

“What was your father’s name?”  


“Archduke Franz Ferdinand.”

“Lovely. Now, how can I help you?”

“May I see the newspaper?”

“Which one?”  


“ _The New York World_.”

“I’ll be right back. Do you need anything else?”

“Some water would be lovely.”

“Alright!”

Alek watched as the nurse bustled away, hoping against hope that maybe, somehow, Eddy Malone had been delayed. That he could make a deal with him.

The nurse returned. “Here you go, your Highness.”

“Thank you.” Alek took the glass and the paper, setting the former onto the table beside his bed. He looked at the paper, and his heart sank. A picture of Deryn, with the headline “AIRGIRL UNCOVERED IN RAF” blazoned across the front page. 

“Is this today’s paper?”

“Yes, your Highness.”

“One last thing, then I’ll leave you to your work. What happened to me?”

“You fell about forty feet to the ground, and shattered your left leg. It’s too early yet to see how it’s going to heal, but you’ll probably have a bit of a limp for the rest of your life. You’ve also had a bad concussion, though luckily you didn’t crack you skull, and there’s no internal bleeding.”

“Thank you, Miss…?”

“I’m Amelia Bauer.”

“Austrian?”  
“Yes, my grandfather was an Austrian immigrant.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bauer.”

“And you, your Serene Highness.”

Alek smiled. She was nice. 

He returned his eyes to the newspaper, and read through the article, his heart clenching for Deryn. When he finished, he called for his nurse, who reappeared. 

“What do you need?”  


“Sorry, I know i’m being a bother, but do you know when I should be aloud to leave?”  


“Probably in about a week, your Highness.”

“Has the _Leviathan_ left yet?”

“Yes. They’re returning to London to put that girl on trial.”

“Deryn, you mean?”

“Is that her name?”

“Yes. And they’re putting her on trial? For what?”

“I don’t know. Probably for being a girl, which is ridiculous.” Miss Bauer shook her head, snorting in a most unladylike manner.

“Indeed.”

“Did you know her? I know you were on the _Leviathan_.”

“Yes. I first met her when the ship crashed in the alps. I didn’t find out who she was really until almost two months ago.”

“What do you think of her?”

“Read the article. It’s all there.”

“I will.”  


“Thank you, Miss Bauer.”

“Of course, your Serene Highness.”

“One more thing. Do you have any writing paper? I have to write a letter.”

“Of course. Can I post it for you?”  


“Unfortunately, I might need access to a messenger tern or eagle. Are they available to civilians?”

“I don’t know. I’ll do my best to find out.”

“Thank you.”

 


	4. Deryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry is this is unclear, for some reason the archive won't let me do italics.  
> Anyway, I don't own this, yada yada yada, all credit to the genius Scott Westerfeld
> 
>  
> 
> Update: I figured it out!!

Deryn looked up. A knock at her door.

Surprisingly, they hadn’t stuck her in the brig. They’d simply moved her to a guest room and posted a guard at her door. Unfortunately, the guard was often Newkirk. The boy felt completely betrayed, and didn’t look at her or talk to her if he could manage it. 

Now, he couldn’t. Newkirk’s head appeared round the door.

“Miss Sharp?”

“Aye?”

“There’s a letter for you.”

“A letter?”

“Aye. May I come in?”

“Aye, go ahead.”

The shorter boy stepped into the room, still avoiding her gaze. He tossed a message tube onto the bed, where Deryn was sitting with her sketchpad. 

“Thanks, Mr. Newkirk.”

The boy gave a noncommittal grunt, and disappeared. 

Once he was gone, Deryn pounced on the letter. The message tube was addressed to Deryn Sharp. She yanked off the top, and drew out the paper. The handwriting was barking posh, and Deryn immediately knew who it was from. Her eyes overflowed. Swearing a blue streak, she buried her face in her pillow. Once she finally had herself under control, she read Alek’s letter.

 

Dear Deryn,

I am sorry. I wish I could have done more. 

How is your leg? How is Bovril? I suppose it’s been taken away from you, hasn’t it. I am glad I didn’t bring it with me. It might have died. 

The nurse at the hospital said it might be a week before I can leave, but I will try to get you. I don’t know how, given that my gold is gone. I can try, however. Perhaps I can talk to Mr. Tesla.

Anyway, thank you. You were, and still are, my greatest friend.

Sincerely,

Alek

 

Deryn had known that the officers would be reading her mail, and she knew that Alek would know that, too. So it didn’t surprise her that the letter was spare. _What were you expecting, you ninny? Did you think that he was going to declare his undying love in a letter both of us knew the_ barking _bridge would read? Dumkopf._

She reached for her sketchpad, where a half-finished drawing of Alek stared up at her. She furiously tore it out. There was not one barking thing up here to draw. The Atlantic Ocean stretched, endless, on all sides of her, and she’s already drawn her cabin one-sodding-thousand times. So she had turned to drawing things that weren’t there. Like Alek. 

Except she could never get Alek quite right. Something was always missing. She was losing her touch.

 

A second knock made her swipe at her dampening eyes. “Barking spiders! Can I get no sodding privacy here?”

“My apologies, Miss Sharp. But I’m afraid this is necessary. Mr. Newkirk, if you would please let me by.” 

_The lady boffin!_ “Aye, ma’am.” Newkirk sounded more than a little bothered. 

The door opened, and Dr. Barlow strode into the room, looking a bit miffed, like a damp cat.

“Can I help you, Ma’am?”  


“Mr. Newkirk, if you will give us a moment.”

“Aye, Ma’am.”

Newkirk left, and the lady boffin turned back to Deryn. 

“So, Miss Sharp. You have a letter from Alek. And so I.”  


“Ma’am?” This was news to Deryn.

“I have received a letter from Alek. It asks me to assist him in acquiring a ticket to London. He wishes to attend your trial.”

“What? He has to help Mr. Tesla and stop the war!”  


“He, apparently, asked Mr. Tesla for help, and Nikola refused, and told him that he had promised to help him, and didn’t appreciate him trying to jump out now.”

“So he went to _you_?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Miss Sharp. I, as it happens, am rather discrete.”

“Aye, but, he asked you for a ticket to London?”

“No, he told me something that he learned about a German attack upon Goliath, and he wants me to turn the ship about and protect the tower, with the side benefit of getting him on board.”

“He asked you to _turn the entire barking ship around_?”

“Indeed. Rather hair-brained, I think.”

Deryn shook her head. Alex had always been a bit daft, particularly since that night on the topside when he fell and knocked his head. _And you kissed him,_ added an unhelpful part of her brain. _Sod off,_ she thought at it.

“Well, Miss Sharp?”

“Well what, Ma’am? What am I supposed to do? Disgraced mad girl-in-disguise, remember?” She gestured at herself.

“Well, I expect you to tell me if you think that the threat of a German attack on Goliath is credible.”

“I don’t know, Ma’am. Do you know where Alek got the tip?”

“He said not to tell anyone. Anyone but you, that is. He said that Lilit told him. He said you would know who that was.”

“Aye, Ma’am, I do. She’s that anarchist lassie from Istanbul. The one who named Bovril. Speaking of which, where is Bovril? Where are both beasties?”

“They are in my chambers. But returning to the point. Can we trust this Lilit? Do you consider her well-informed?”  


“Aye. I know she’s trustworthy, and I don’t see why she would lie about this. There would be no reason.”

“So you think that she is telling the truth?”

“Aye.”

“Well then, I will speak to the Captain. I think that it is not worth risking our young prince on the off chance that this Lilit is wrong. If you think she is trustworthy, then I believe you.”

After the lady boffin had left, Deryn lay back on her bed, tracing the patterns in the fabricated wood of the ceiling with her eyes. The unhelpful part of her brain was back. _You might trust Lilit, but you only told Doctor Barlow you had so much faith in her because you wanted to see Alek again._ With a groan, Deryn rolled over onto her side, and her eyes landed on the message tube again. She picked it up. It rattled a bit. When she upended it onto her palm, her eyes widened. A tiny charm, carved from wood. It was in the shape of a Cyklop Stormwalker, of the Stormwalker Alek had arrived in the Alps with, and the engines of which he had given to the _Leviathan_ so they could escape the glacier on which they had been stranded. Deryn smiled, then returned to laying on her back, holding the charm against her breast. She fell asleep like that, clutching this little gift, this tiny scrap of Alek. When she woke, the setting was glaring off the windows. So the lady boffin had managed to turn the ship about. Deryn smiled. She might see Alek. Just maybe. 

 


	5. Deryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I erased Alek's broken wrist because it wasn't convenient.  
> Also I don't own.

For first time in quite a while, there was a knock at Deryn’s door that wasn’t part of the regular schedule of meals and trips to the gastric channel. She looked up. _Finally. Someone other than sodding Newkirk._ “Come in.”

The door opened, and in walked… Alek. 

Deryn gulped. He was on crutches. His left leg was encased in white plaster, but he smiled when he saw her.

“Afternoon, your princeliness.”  


“Hello, Deryn.”

“How are you?”

“I suppose I’ve been better. Yourself?”

“Just barking fine.”

Alek hopped across the room, the sat on the bed next to Deryn, resting his crutches against the sheets beside him. Deny swore softly as the mattress dipped. She could feel the tears coming, and knew she would be unable to stop them. It took so little to set her off, lately. She was turning into a _barking_ girl, all delicate and unsoldierly. When the tears finally started to roll, she felt soft fingers underneath her chin, lifting her eyes from her lap. She looked into Alek’s green, green eyes. “Are you alright? Really?”

“Bloody of course not! I’m going to be court-martialed and brought back to London for trial! I might never fly again. Barking spiders, I’m not even slightly alright!”

Alek’s eyes were shining, too, now. “They’re taking you back to London? They’re _court-martialing_ you? _You_? I suppose they feel humiliated.”

“That’s not the part that hurts. It’s flying. I’ll never fly again. Whether they send me home, or to prison, or to the barking _gallows_ , I’ll never fly again. And…” She paused, looking back down to her lap, not wanting to say it. “And I’ll never see _you_ again. They’re going to take _everything_ I love from me. Flying, the _Leviathan_ , and…” She gulped. “You.” 

She looked back up. Alex was crying too, single tears sliding down his cheeks. Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed her, his lips soft and warm against hers. When he pulled away, his eyes had gone hard and flinty. 

“Not if I can help it.”

“What?” 

“I said, they won’t take anything from you if I can help it.” His fists clenched. “I will do what I can to free you. If I have to sneak back here and break you out, I will. They will not drag you back to London in chains.”

“How were you planning on doing that? You’re on crutches, and I’ve only got one good knee.”

“I don’t care. I will help you.”

“You daft prince. How? There’s very near barking nothing you can do for me. Let’s face it. I’m stuffed. Go help Tesla, live out your destiny, stop the war. You’ll be a good emperor. But go. Just go.”

“What?”  


Deryn clenched her fists, swallowing. “I said, there’s nothing you can do for me, except be His Serene Highness, Archduke Aleksander of Hohenberg. Or whatever your sodding titles are. Just help your people. Go and be their emperor. They’re going to need one, when all of this is over.”

“But, Deryn, what about you?”  


“I’m never going to be helpful to you. So let me go and be a barking archduke. You’ll be a good one.”

Alek shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

“What?”  


“You said that you’ll never be helpful to me. That’s not true. You have already been immeasurably helpful. You saved me. In the Alps, after Istanbul. You saved me from not having any reason to keep going.”  


“Well, you have a reason. Austria-Hungary is your reason. Your letter is your reason.”

“But the letter may not even be worth anything. The current pope contests it. If it amounts to nothing, I will truly have no reason. Deryn.” He looked into her eyes. “I need you. I without you, I don’t work.”

“You can. You worked before me. You can work after. It’ll be alright, you daft prince.”

“No. It won’t. I might be a daft prince, useless for anything but aristocracy, which isn’t good for anything, but I know this. Without you, Deryn Sharp, I will not have a reason to continue. Austria-Hungary is my past. I lost that world the night my parents died. This is my world.” 

Deryn shook her head. “You aren’t bloody helping, Alek! I can’t do anything about this, and I’m trying to come to terms with that. And you are making it very, very, barking hard!”  
“Then don’t. Don’t come to terms with it. Don’t resign yourself. Fight it.”

“HOW? Please explain, your princeliness, how I can possibly fight this. I can’t run away, they’ll call me both a deserter and a fugitive from justice. I can’t plead, they’ll call me madder than I already am. There is no sodding way out of this!” Deryn was shouting, and she knew Newkirk could hear, but she didn’t sodding care. Let the entire ship and all of New York hear her. They couldn’t do worse than was already done. Suddenly, her anger drained, and she was crying. Again. _Blisters._ Alek put an arm around her, and he, too, was shaking with sobs. Deryn thought the walls would crack with it, and they would go falling into the vast Atlantic. 


	6. Alek

Alek’s heart hurt. A tiny, logical part of him pointed out that it was madness, to think he could save Deryn. He isn’t have anything to barter with, and the Admiralty was too humiliated to just release Deryn into the wilds of America. They wouldn’t hang her, probably, but they might stick her in prison, and they would at least send her back to Scotland. And if that happened, Alek knew he would never see her again. If any of it happened, he might never see her again. He might be an emperor. 

But the largest part of him was entirely illogical and was fixated on trying to free Deryn. But all the half-formed plans his mind handed up involved the use of both legs on at least one count. Alek felt miserable. Never before had he felt so futile. Not even after he had returned to the _Leviathan_ after the revolution in Istanbul. Then he had been simply a waste of hydrogen. Now he was absolutely pointless. 

“I’m sorry, Deryn. You’re right. I can’t do anything.” Shaking his head, he turned toward the window, staring out at New York City. “God’s wounds, I just feel so useless. I don’t want to just abandon you. I can’t just give you up to these people. I need you. We mightn’t be able to be together, but I’ll never be able to live with myself if I just throw you to the wolves. I’ll spend the rest of my life thinking about how I might have saved you, even if I know it would be fruitless.”

“I know, Alek. Believe me. I know. After my Da died, I spent hours trying to figure a way that I could have saved him. But it’s pointless. There’s no undoing the past.”

“But it isn’t past! Not yet!”

“Yes, but there’s no undoing Eddy Malone’s article. Even if you managed to somehow convinced him to say he lied, I confessed to the officers. There’s no way out.”  
Alex reached for his crutches and stood, still clumsy. Deny grabbed her cane and did the same, and they stared at each other, then finally Deryn stepped toward him, and leaned forward. 

They kissed, and it was the kiss of the dying, the kiss of those who know they will never kiss again. 

 


	7. Deryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like. I know it moves a bit fast.

The evening of Tesla’s experiment was clear, a few clouds catching the dying sunlight and turning to fire. Everything was beautiful in the slanting orange light of sunset, even Tesla’s machine. 

Otherwise, Goliath was ugly. It was nothing like the metal detector that Tesla had snuck aboard, with its sinuous lines and hand-machined parts, as elegant as the fabricated wood of the _Leviathan_. 

No, Goliath was something different, more like Alek’s Stormwalker than anything else, all hard edges and utility, not designed to be looked at, designed to work. 

Even the ugly parts of the _Leviathan_ were beautiful, in a way. 

Deryn could see the lights of the dining room, coming clearer as the sun set. She imagined Alek down there, with his white plaster cast, talking with the diplomats and reporters and living out his barking destiny.

_Barking bloody princes_. She shook her head. She didn’t know what had gotten into her yesterday. _All that barking crying._ She hadn’t cried that much since Da’s accident. Certainly not that much in one day. 

A knock came at her door, and she straightened, turning away from the window. “Come in!” Doctor Barlow appeared in the doorway, looking faintly annoyed. 

“Good evening, young lady.”

“Evening, Ma’am. Can I help you?”

“Yes, you can. Alek’s loris has been keening since it was taken away from you, and it hasn't eaten for quite some time. I refuse to allow one of two of these particular creatures to die simply because the only available caretaker is a disgraced girl. Also I imagine you could use some company.”

“That’s barking true, Ma’am.”

“So, I must speak to the captain.” The lady boffin turned to go. “Oh, one more thing, Miss Sharp. _Fliegen ist eine Flucht in sich_.”

Deryn blinked at the Clanker-talk, though she understood it. _What did she mean?_

Shaking her head, Deryn turned back to the window, and to watching Tesla’s machine. The lights in the great building below Goliath were on now, and the steam boilers were going, smoke rising from the chimneys as Tesla powered up his vast machine. 

Her knee wasn’t nearly so bad, these days. Grabbing her cane, Deryn went to the door, opening to see an Coxswain Hughes on guard at her door. She snapped a crisp salute. He was halfway to returning it before he remembered who she was. 

“What do you need, Miss Sharp?”

“I would like to speak to the captain, Sir. Do you think I would be allowed to?”

“Probably. Would you mind staying here while I find out?”  


“Not at all.”

Hughes walked away, and Deryn dropped her cane, waiting until he was out of sight to slip out her door, walking down the passage. 

The ship was startlingly empty, until she remembered that everyone would be at battle stations. Luckily, she had done quite a bit of skulking for the lady boffin, and knew the byways of the ship. Creeping into the Flight Room, where things like gliding wings and such were kept, she silently congratulated herself on actually making it. 

“ _Mr._ Sharp.”

Deryn froze, then relaxed. It was only Bovril, sitting atop the rack of gliding wings. 

“Hey, Beastie. Ready to get away from here?”

The loris didn’t answer. Deny lifted the beastie off the rack, then a pair of gliding wings. Setting Bovril on her shoe, she settled the wings onto her shoulders, tightening the harness about her body. A moment later, she swore, loosened the straps, and tucked Bovril inside her jacket, putting everything back, tightening and checking again. 

She opened the porthole, thanking blisters it was big enough to fit her, the loris, and the wings. Climbing onto the window sill, she swallowed. “Hold tight, beastie.” 

Deryn lept. 

Once she was clear of the porthole, she snapped the wings open, letting them catch the air. She soared down toward New York City, hoping that she would be able to get to Goliath before the weapon fired. 

Even if this was just a test, Deryn didn’t want to be in the air when it happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The German means "Flying is an escape in itself." I think. Google translate is rather unreliable.


	8. Alek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own. Hope you have fun

There was a momentary lull in the barrage of reporters, and Alek was looking out the window. The sun was mostly set now, only sparks left of the fiery display that had lit up the west less than an hour before. 

The sky was a darkening blue, changing from pale evening to night, and there were a few seabirds and the like fluttering across the visage. 

And something else. Something larger. A familiar silhouette that conjured a thousand things. 

Alek rose, pushing his chair back and grabbing his crutches, he made it to the windows just in time to see Deryn Sharp roll to the ground before Goliath. The security was running toward her already, and Alek hopped toward the door, going as fast as his crutches would allow. 

Tesla’s guards were already marching Deryn away when Alek shouted for them to stop. They looked up, and seeing Alek, halted. 

“Come here! I want to speak to her!”

One of the guards looked startled, glancing at Deryn. They walked the girl back, still holding her arms. When they arrived, Alek ordered the two of them to let Deryn go and return to their stations. They obeyed, and only then did Alek realize that the two guards had really been the only thing holding Deryn upright. 

Her face apologetic in the faint light from the gate, Deryn collapsed against Alek.

“Sorry, your princeliness, but my knee isn’t as healthy as I want it to be.”

“What are you doing here, Deryn?”

“I couldn’t stay. They were going to take me back to London for trial, and I couldn’t face it. I couldn't face their scorn or going back to my mum and aunties and being stuffed back into skirts for the rest of my life.”

“Do you think you can walk?”

“Aye, just give me a moment. I need to collect myself. I’m a bit shaky from jumping off a barking airship.”

“Of course, I’m sorry.” Glancing behind him, Alek swore. “God’s wounds. Here comes the panoply.”

“What? Oh, blisters.” For down the hill came hurrying half the guests from the dinner, looking curious and panicked.

The reporters soon swarmed them. “Who is this, Your Highness?”

“This is my good friend Deryn Sharp, and-”

But he didn’t get to finish, as every reporter began to bubble over with questions. Was this the Deryn Sharp from the _Leviathan_? What was she doing here? How did she get here? And what was that beast on her shoulder?

Alek glanced down at Deryn again at that last question, and smiled when he saw Bovril’s eyes glowing from Deryn’s shoulder. He held out his hand, and the loris crawled up his arm and settled itself beside his left ear. 

Straightening, Alek turned to the clustered reporters. The commanding tone of his voice startled even him. “I will answer questions later, but I need to get my friend inside and sitting down. You will not ask her questions.”

The reporters, somewhat to his surprise, obeyed, turning back to Goliath. 

Once they had gone a fair distance away, Alek turned back to Deryn, looking with concern at his friend. “Do you think you can walk?”  


“Aye. But where on earth did you get that voice, Alek?”

“Which voice?”  


“When you told those reporters to jump, they jumped! You sounded, well, you sounded right princely.”

“I don’t know. I just remember my father speaking like that.”

“Well, whatever it was, it worked.”

Deryn carefully stood, wincing as her weight landed on her injured knee. Together, the two of them limped back to the great machine.

 


	9. Deryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All rights to Scott Westerfeld

When the pair had finally made it back inside, both were bombarded with reporters, the majorityof whom, Deryn noticed, Alek tried to shuttle away from her. 

Finally, Deryn stood, and the journalistic tide surged forward, hoping for an interview with the Airgirl herself. Barking spiders, they were mad as a box of boffins. 

Finally, she had had enough. “OI!” Each and every reporter, even the ones still focused on Alek, turned toward her. Barking finally. She turned to Alek with his new imperial voice. “Your princeliness?”

Nodding, he straightened. “I need you all to leave for the time being. I will answer questions, but you will not speak to Deryn Sharp. You can come back in thirty minutes. Go.” They went.

“Thanks, Alek.” Deryn smiled over at him, then her knee throbbed and maybe standing up wasn’t her best idea. Grimacing, she lowered herself back into her chair. Alex soon joined her with a chair of his own, looking concerned.

“Are you alright, Deryn?”

“I think I might have to avoid gliding wings from now on. They don’t seem to like me.” She laghed, the absurdity of it all suddenly dawning on her. “Blisters, this is ridiculous. Look at me! Knee injured from my second dodgy landing in a month, sitting with a Clanker prince inside some kind of giant Tesla cannon, having jumped off my barking airship because some reporter found out that I’m a girl and put it in the blasted paper.I won’t be able to do anything useful for a long time, because of that bum-rag Eddy Malone. And because I escaped the ship I’m now a fugitive from justice. Oh, and I brought Bovril, which makes me a thief, as well.”

Alek chuckled. “Well, my situation is just as insane.I’m an exiled Clanker prince with a secret that could end the war, helping a madman to sell a death ray to the world. And I’m in love with a Scottish girl in disguise as an airman who was just unmasked by the press.”

Deryn went red. “Really?”

Alek turned to her, then blushed as well. “Yes. Really. Not that I can do much about it.”

And there it was. That barking letter would always get between her and Alek. Suddenly she wanted to grab it from him and light the blasted thing on fire. It would be satisfying, at least. But she couldn’t. She knew she couldn’t. Whatever Alek had said on the _Leviathan_ the other day, he had no intention of abdicating. As he kept saying, his people needed him, and he couldn’t exactly throw them all to the winds for some moony Scottish lass. Besides, he needed to stop the war, as little as Deryn believed that any one person could stop a war that spanned the whole barking globe. 

Alek reached for her hand, and she didn’t pull away when he took it, though she knew she ought to. She simply didn’t have the energy to maintain her distance at the moment. Like it or not, she was in love with this prince, her heart languished with it, just as in Istanbul, and all the time before he had known who she was. And after, when their friendship had deteriorated to wounded pride and pining.

But Alek remembered his childhood, his uncertainty at his own position, and Deryn knew he would never do that to his own children. 

Suddenly, a vast boom shook the floor of the dining room. Deryn sat up. “Blisters! I forgot about the Germans. We have to get those reporters out of here!”  


“You’re right! Come on!” Alek stood, And Deryn followed, looking about for something she could use as a makeshift cane. 

She saw nothing. “Blister this! Go, and don't wait for me!”

“I can’t abandon you, Deryn!”

“Austria-Hungary will need an emperor when all this mess is over. They won’t need me. Besides, you know me. When have I failed to get out of a scrape like this? Now go!”

Alek finally nodded, and hopped out the door on his crutches. 

Deryn tried to put a little weight on her knee, and winced. “Barking Spiders!”

With her blasted knee like this, she was slower even than Alek with his broken leg. Finally, she reachedfor her ringing knife, then swore. It had been taken away from her, along with her command whistle and Bovril. And of course, the lady boffin couldn’t have given her a blasted knife, instead of the damned useless beastie. Sure, Bovril might be clever enough, but it was useless in a fight. And Alek had it, anyway. Splendid. 

Deryn could feel the floor rumbling with the approach of the walkers, and began to search the room frantically with her eyes. Nothing. Barking nothing.

The pound of boots turned her attention to the door, she watched in apprehension, until a man burst through the door. 

It was Count Volger. Deryn sat up. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for Alek. And attempting to help you, it seems.”

“Well, if you’d give me one of those swords you’ve got there, I could handle myself alright, I think.”

“I don’t have any to spare. But Master Klopp sent this.” Volger threw something at Deryn, who caught it, bemused. It was a cane. “Unscrew the top, take out the knife, screw the top back on. You ought to be alright.”

Deryn did as she was told, and found a rigging knife protruding from inside the plum-sized brass ball that topped the cane. She pulled it out, then replaced the knob. “Thanks, your Countship!”

“Thank Klopp, not me!”

“Aye, I will, if I make it out of here alive!”

“Make sure you do. I think you’re good for Alek, loathe though I am to admit it. Speaking of which, where did the boy go?”

Deryn pointed. “He’s helping the reporters to escape.” Volger nodded his thanks, then ran off. Deryn stood, leaning heavily on her cane. She followed Volger at a much slower pace, when the sound of more boots made her turn. Hoffman and Bauer appeared, and looked at her questioningly. 

“I’m fine. Alek and Volger went that way.”

The men thundered by. Suddenly, the pitch of the boilers, which had stayed constant throughout everything, changed. Deryn could see lightening sparkling at each of the towers, gathering upon each spire. It seemed like too much for a mere test, to change the color of the sky. 

Changing direction, she hopped as fast as knee and cane would allow, up the stairs that led to the control room. 

When she burst into the room, she saw Tesla on several telephones at once, shouting orders. Skulking in the shadows in the doorway, she heard Tesla set down the last telephone with the words, “I’m afraid this is no longer a test.”

Deryn just managed to hold a gasp. She crept slowly out, trying to get to the man’s walking stick. 

“OI!” She froze. One of the Security guards was looking at her, eyes narrowed. 

Deryn snapped to attention, offering a brisk salute. “Midshipman Robert Fitzroy, reporting from the _Leviathan_ , Sir!”

“What’s your business here, lad?”  


_Blisters_. She hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Captain Hobbes sent me down on gliding wings. He want’s me to take a look around.”

“Very well.”

Deryn walked about, inspecting gauges and needles, trying to look as though she knew the first things about them. Finally, she arrived at Tesla himself, his fine, spidery hands flying over Goliath’s controls. Next to him, she tapped him on the shoulder, then said, “What in blazes are you doing?”  


The inventor turned slightly, his hands still darting over the dials and levers of his machine. “I must fire.”

“You’re about to destroy an entire barking city! Two million living souls! Is your attic that scrambled?”  


“I’ve no idea what you’re saying, young man.”

“Barking posh Clankers! Are you mad? Berlin is a city of two million people, and you are going to destroy it? Without giving completely innocent civilians a chance to evacuate?”

“That chance has been stolen from them. But not by me, by their own Kaiser.” He turned to his security staff. “Please show Mr. Fitzroy out.”

Two burly men moved toward her, grabbing her arms and dragging her across the room. She pulled out of their grasp, brandishing her rigging knife in their direction. They snorted, moving forward again, and Deryn slashed, opening a long gash in one of their chests. The man stumbled back, cursing. His companion, wary, tried to grab her, but she bashed him over the head with her cane. He reeled away, collapsing like a spooked Huxley. Turning back to Tesla, Deryn said, “Stop, Mr. Tesla. It isn’t worth this.”

“If I do not fire, the Kaiser’s assassins will not let me live out the year.”

He reached for the largest lever on the control panel. 

“ _No_!” Deryn cried, and, with no better options, hurled her knife. 

It flew straight, striking Tesla between the shoulder blades. He coughed a spatter of blood onto Goliath’s controls and slumped forward, red oozing down the back of his formerly impeccable suit. By the time Deryn got to him, the life had faded from his eyes.

She turned him over, blood getting on her hands and uniform. It was warm, thick, and the tang of iron filled her nose and mouth. She had a sudden, hysterical memory of hiding beneath Tesla’s bed, smelling the iron in the rock hidden there, thinking it was like blood.

There was _so_   _much blood_. On her uniform, her hands and face. She could taste it, hot and sticky, the scent of iron and life taken filling her mind with a scarlet haze. She heard the sound of the knife sinking into the inventor's spine with a dull thunk, over and over and over. 

She could hear other people behind her. There were footsteps, from posh dress boots, and the regular thump of rubber-shod crutches. She turned, and Alek took a step back, his face contorting in horror.


	10. Alek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure if my characterization of Deryn was right, but then I remembered that, periodically throughout canon, she is disgusted or horrified by battle. She wants to fly, not fight. Also I figured anyone would be very, very traumatized after killing a person.

It was Deryn, pale and haunted, blood on her hands, her uniform, her face, standing beside the lifeless body of Nikola Tesla. Alek saw the knife protruding from between the man’s shoulder blades, the handle as familiar as the saunters of his old Stormwalker. It was a British military issue rigging knife. He hopped forward on his crutches, but when he got reached a hand out to Deryn, she flinched away, blue eyes wild and hollow. 

“Deryn,” he said, concern riding the inflections of her name. 

Her knees seemed to give, then, and she slid into the small scarlet puddle at her feet. Her wide, blank eyes stared at her hands, stained crimson. She trembled with horror. 

The sound of dress boots softly clicking against the floor made Alek look up into Volger’s face. The wildcount looked down at Deryn, something akin to sorrow on his face. Count Volger knelt, reaching a hand toward Deryn’s shoulder, but she shied away, terror in her face. 

“Volger, I will stay with her, if you might fetch Hoffman and Bauer. We ought to get her out of here.”

“Certainly, your Serene Highness.” Volger rose, uncaring of the blood on his knees, and walked away. 

Alek, carefully, sat down beside the shaking girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. She whirled, hand flailing out, and three red lines appeared on Alek’s wrist. They smarted. He withdrew his touch, but said her name quietly. “Deryn.”

Nothing. “Deryn.” 

Nothing. “Deryn, _liebe_ , talk to me.” She didn’t respond. She continued to stare at her hands, face empty. 

“Deryn,” Alek cried. “Deryn, _meine liebe_ , do something!”

Nothing. “Deryn, please.” His last plea was quiet, his voice cracking with emotion, tears running tracks through ash and dirt. “Please.”

“Sir?”

Alek looked up into the concerned face of Hans Bauer, Hoffman right behind the corporal.

“We need to get her out of here. Take her someplace else. Just so you know, she will fight you.”

Bauer and Hoffman saluted, then knelt, ignoring the blood. Deryn jumped at their hands, then began to struggled, scratching and flailing. Hans caught her wrists, but she kicked until Hoffman had secured her legs. Together, the two men lifted Deryn, carrying her out of the room. 

They set the twisting form on the floor. As soon as they let go, Deryn sprang up, eyes wide and terrified, and immediately crumpled with a small moan, her injured knee collapsing without the support of her cane. Alek, his foot throbbing inside his cast, came hopping over, and sat down beside Deryn, a twist of relief in his gut. The clawed terror there swiftly turned on the feeling and devoured it. 

Alek felt Bovril, who had been still on his shoulder this entire time, make a small noise, and Alek held out his arm, allowing the loris to crawl down it toward Deryn, then climb onto her knee. She didn’t flinch when it’s weight settled on her lap.

“ _Mr._ Sharp.” 

Deryn blinked. 

“ _Mr._ Sharp, you ninny!”

Deryn’s lip twitched, life beginning to return to her eyes. She lifted one shaking hand and run it over the beastie’s fur. 

“Deryn?” Alek asked, tentative.

The girl looked up, meeting his eyes. Now that the emptiness had fled, they were vulnerable, soft and brimming with pain. 

“Aye?”  


“ _Danke Gott_. I thought I’d lost you.” 


	11. Deryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own.

Deryn realized that Bovril was sitting on her lap. She looked down at him, just as the beastie said her name. “ _Mr._ Sharp.”

Deryn blinked, the words triggering a thousand memories.

“ _Mr._ Sharp, you ninny!”

A sudden jerk of amusement lifted one corner of her lip for a moment. Shakily, Deryn raised her hand and petted the loris. Once. 

This time, it was not the Bovril that spoke. “Deryn?” Alek’s voice was tentative, frightened.

Deryn lifted her head. “Aye?”

Alek seemed to go limp. “ _Danke Gott_. I thought I’d lost you.”

“Not yet, you daft prince.” Deryn could hear her voice shaking.

“If you have your cane, do you think you can walk? We need to leave. Volger, brilliant as he is, brought a flare gun. We can signal the _Leviathan._ ”

“Yes, I think I can. But what about you, your princeliness? Can you get out of here?”

“Certainly,” Alek said.

“Really?” 

“My leg hurts a bit, but I think I can manage.” He turned. “Hans, if you would get Deryn’scane from the other room, I think we could move.” 

Alek reached out and took her hand is his, and Deryn saw three scratches on the back of his hand. She gestured to them. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“That wasn’t here last time I saw you. What happened.”

“I tried to touch you to comfort you, and you scratched me.”

“Blisters, I’m sorry, Alek.”

“It’s fine. You were nonsensical.”

“Even so.”

Something occurred to Deryn, and a squick of dread appeared in her stomach. Well, more than a squick. “Alek. You are going to signal the _Leviathan_ , right?”

“Yes.” 

“Well, I just escaped. If they were planning on being soft on me, they can’t want to anymore. I’ve just jumped off the ship with an extremely valuable beastie. Also, I…” She gulped. She couldn’t say it, even think it, without the red mist threatening the edges of her vision. She gestured wordlessly up the stairs at Goliath’s control room. Alek nodded, understanding, then turned to the door. “VOLGER!” He bellowed. Deryn was startled by how loud his voice was. Volger appeared, flare gun in hand. 

“I’ve just fired, your Serene Highness. The searchlights were already pointing this way when you called. They ought to be here any minute.”

Deryn fought against the rising panic in her veins. “Alek, I’m done for. I can’t move fast enough to get out of here, and anyway, the searchlights will be covering the perimeter.”

“No! I won’t allow it!” He looked just as panicked as Deryn felt. 

“You daft prince. You always think you can fix everything. This is one thing you can’t.”

“I’ll talk to the captain. I’ll find some way to get you out of this!”

“You can’t. They’ll be here any minute. Just go be the emperor.”

Bauer appeared with Deryn’s cane, and Alek took it, setting it beside Deryn. 

“Well, your princeliness,” she said. “What do you say we go catch a flying whale?”

Alek leaned forward and kissed her, hard. The he took Bauer’s proffered hand and rose, carefully leaning on his crutches. Hoffman helped Deryn up, then the five of them started out to the approximate spot where Volger had fired the flare. There they stood, the two common men, the disgraced airgirl, the exiled prince, and his loyal fencing master, waiting for the _HMS Leviathan_ to come through the sky to remove them from the wreckage of a mad, dead boffin’s death ray.


	12. Alek

As soon as they were aboard, Deryn was ushered away to the brig. Alek wasn’t given a chance to protest. 

Several of the ship’s marines had been sent to inspect Goliath’s wreckage, and they now returned with Tesla, Deryn’s rigging knife still between his shoulders. Alek was suddenly glad that Deryn was not there. 

The captain took in Tesla’s body, and the Royal Air Force issue rigging knife in his back. He turned to another officer, telling him to fetch Deryn back. 

“No!” Alek cried, but the captain ignored him. 

Volger leaned down to Alek’s ear. “It would appear you have been deemed untrustworthy, thanks to your association with Miss Sharp and Mr. Tesla.”

Alek swore. Of course. He knew that Deryn would have had a negative effect on his reputation, and he hadn’t cared. Until now, when he needed his reputation to save her.

An officer appeared. “Your Highness, is you would follow me, I will take you to your stateroom.” Alek followed dumbly, allowing the man to take him to a rather lavish room, where he was told to stay. 

Time passed slowly. The officer had locked the door after leaving, so Alek was stuck, with no word of the fate of his men. They had let him keep Bovril, surprisingly. He took the beastie off his shoulder, and set it on his lap. It looked at him, curious. 

“ _Mr._ Sharp?”

“Deryn’s not here, Bovril.”

“Daft prince,” the beast scoffed. 

“I suppose that I am. It’s not like I can do anything _useful_ around here!” 

“Emperors are vain and useless things,” said Bovril, then began to chuckle.

“Yes, thank you for driving that home for me.” Alek flopped back on his bed, well aware that it it did not behoove an emperor-in-waiting to flop. He didn’t care. What use was an empire, if you couldn’t save the people you loved? Reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, he took out the pope’s letter, staring at it, indignation and ire building in his gut. 

“ _Verdammt noch mal biede,_ Franz Joseph, _Kaiser_ Wilhelm. _Fahr zur Hölle,_ Eddy Malone,” He shouted. His cabin was suddenly stifling. He stood walked to the window, flinging it open, staring at the New York City skyline. “ _Zur Hölle mit euch allen_.” 

The guard who had been posted at his door burst inside, looking concerned and slightly frightened. 

He stopped at the anger parent in every line of Alek’s face. “Are you alright, Your Highness?”

“Yes.” 

“Alright.” The man disappeared. 

Alek returned to gazing out the window, watching the water slide past far below. He could see the wreckage of Goliath, and his belief in a grand plan, in destiny and providence and _fate_ began to spiral away, draining from his mind and heart and rising into the early morning sky, dispersing like smoke among the loose clouds stained pink with the rising sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The German says (I think) "Damn you both, Franz Joseph, Kaiser Wilhelm. Go to hell, Eddy Malone. To hell with all of you."


	13. Deryn

Deryn sat in a chair in the bridge. She was a little surprised that they’d even let her up there, but her astonishment had faded when she remembered they would need to question her. She had, after all, escaped with stolen property and then killed a man. They sat her down and asked her what happened. They were surprisingly polite about it. 

It was Mr. Rigby doing the questioning, who was, thankfully, tactful enough to hide the betrayal he was surely feeling, though his eyes were hard. A lizard sat on his shoulder, ready to absorb Deryn’s confession. 

“Alright, Miss Sharp. Can you just tell me what happened, starting with your escape?”

And so she told. “Well, the lady boffin had showed up in my cabin and told me ‘ _Fliegen ist eine Flucht in sich_ ,’ which is German for ‘flying is an escape in itself,’ so I asked Coxswain Hughes to go see if I could speak to the captain. When he was gone, I slipped out to the Wing Room. Bovril, the Perspicacious Loris, was waiting there. I assumed that the lady boffin had left it there. Well, I strapped on a pair of gliding wings, put Bovril under my jacket, and jumped. Alex found being hauled away by some security guards, and he brought me back to Goliath. Then, the building started shaking a squick too much, and so he went to evacuate the reporters. My knee had been completely mangled again in my landing, so I had to stay behind. Then Volger, Hoffman, and Bauer showed up with a cane and knife. The gave them to me, and I went into the control room to see what was going on. Mr. Tesla had gone completely cracked in the attic, and was going to fire on Berlin. I asked him to stop, but he wouldn’t, and his security guards dragged me halfway across the room before I got them to let me go. I had to throw my knife to stop Tesla from firing.”

Mr. Rigby nodded, adding “End message.” Turning back, the bosun looked at Deryn. “Now, tell me why you lied in order to get into the service.”

Deryn gulped, then lifted her chin. “It started with my Da, Artemis Sharp. He always used to take me up in hot air balloons, and after his death, my Ma and my aunties tried to turn me back into a girl. This was the only way I could get back into the air. I wanted to fly, and to serve.”

The bosun looked surprised, but Deryn thought a squick of sympathy had sprouted in his eyes. 

He called over two riggers, and they escorted her to the brig, where they locked her up. She’d expected that. 

The brig had been built in the gut, so guards wouldn’t have to escort prisoners to the gastric channel to do their business. It smelled a bit, but it was warm, and that was a blessing, because now, with no officers questioning her and no Alek and no one about, what had happened was beginning to creep its way back into her. She shuddered, seeing the knife between the inventor’s shoulder blades, the spatter of blood coughed over the controls of the great machine. red began to creep back into the edges of her vision, clouding out the walls of the brig. Wrapping her arms around her knees, Deryn muttered reminders to herself. “It’s over. Alex is safe Bovril is safe Newkirk is safe The _Leviathan_ is safe I’m safe. Everyone’s safe.” But the fog advanced, and Tesla’s death played over and over again in her mind, the thump of steel in flesh, splatter of blood, the tang of iron. Slowly, the reassurances devolved into “no no no no no no no no.” Despite the warmth of the channel, Deryn shivered. She had no way of telling time, but it seemed like hours she sat, tears leaking down her face. Finally, she stood long enough to take the blanket from the cot and lay down, body still furled. After a time, she fell into a fitful sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Comments give me life!


End file.
